THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH A 4700 FOOT HIGH MOUNTAIN, ABOUT 200 FEET BELOW ITS TOP DURING CRUISE FLIGHT. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED ABOUT 18 MILES FROM THE DEPARTURE POINT. RECORDED RADAR DATA SHOWED AN AIRPLANE AT ALTITUDE VARYING BETWEEN 4000 AND 5400 FEET MSL, DURING A 10 MINUTE PERIOD, WITH THE DATA ENDING AT 0816 EDT, 16 MIN AFTER DEPARTURE. THE DATA SHOWS THE FLIGHT PATH ROUGHLY CORRESPONDING WITH THE DIRECT ROUTE OF FLIGHT BETWEEN THE DEPARTURE POINT AND DESTINATION, WHICH IS A NORTHERLY COURSE. ANOTHER PILOT WHO FLEW NEAR THE ACCIDENT SITE ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE DEPARTED, REPORTED THE MOUNTAIN WAS OBSCURED BY CLOUDS AT THE TIME. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE DID NOT DISCLOSE EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION. THE PILOT HAD BEEN INACTIVE FROM FLYING FOR ABOUT 17 YEARS. HE RESUMED FLYING ABOUT 2 MONTHS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. DURING WHICH TIME HE ALSO ACQUIRED 3 HOURS OF INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TRAINING.